271 A Familiar Painting
Shen Xi leaned close to Guan Lei’s ear and whispered, “Guan Lei, you didn’t snatch her from somewhere, did you? He even lost a slipper.”
Only then did Guan Lei notice that one of Li Dan’s slippers was missing. Li Dan was sitting opposite him with his left foot on his right foot.
Guan Lei scratched his head awkwardly and answered Shen Xi in a low voice, “He’s a master after all. He’s got some quirks. Maybe he just likes to wear a slipper when he goes out.”
Shen Xi frowned and looked at Guan Lei in disbelief.
Shen Xi felt that with Guan Lei’s family background, it would be more likely that he had snatched Li Dan from somewhere.
Shen Xi was a little worried. What if the old man’s family called the police to arrest Guan Lei?
Shen Xi pulled Guan Lei out of the door and said seriously, “Guan Lei, I know you’re worried that I’ll lose, but don’t worry. I won’t lose to Jiang Xue. I’m very confident in myself. You should return him.”
Guan Lei got the underlying meaning of Shen Xi’s words. She meant that she didn’t need his help and even thought that he was being nosy. Guan Lei suddenly felt dejected.
He had originally wanted to help Shen Xi, but he didn’t think that he would be doing the wrong thing.
Shen Xi was sensitive enough to sense the change in Guan Lei’s mood. She knew that he was being kind, so she didn’t say anything. She just sighed and said, “Alright, I’m still very grateful to you. Since you’ve invited him over, it would be a waste if we don’t ask for his guidance.”
Guan Lei’s face lit up with joy and he pulled Shen Xi in.
After Shen Xi returned, she quickly finished her work for the competition.
This painting was the one that Shen Xi had helped Jiang Xue draw in her previous life. It was also this painting that had won Jiang Xue the Rong City Cup that year.
After that, with the Jiang family’s publicity, Jiang Xue became a talented young artist in Rong City before she became Xiang Lao’s last disciple.
Shen Xi looked at the painting in front of her. It was the same painting, but her current painting skills were much more mature than in her previous life. Her skills had also far surpassed those in her previous life.
Since she could win the championship in her previous life, there shouldn’t be much suspense in her second life, right?
However, to be on the safe side, Shen Xi decided to send the painting to Li Dan’s hotel.
Li Dan looked at Shen Xi’s painting and frowned slightly. He looked at Shen Xi, then at the painting, and asked, “Who is your master?”
Shen Xi replied politely, “I studied in an institution for a while when I was young but it’s been so long that I can’t remember the teacher’s name. But I know his surname is Liu.”
Li Dan examined the painting for a long time before saying to Shen Xi, “How about this? You put the painting here first. I’ll take a look at it and I’ll return it to you tomorrow.”
Shen Xi thought it was a little strange, but she thought that Li Dan was a famous artist, so there shouldn’t be any problem.
The moment Shen Xi left, Li Jin, who had been hiding in the small room, came out.
“Grandpa, what’s wrong? Is there a problem with the painting?” Li Jin looked at Li Dan and asked.
Li Dan stroked his beard. “This painting technique is a little familiar. I seem to have seen it somewhere before.”
Li Jin immediately perked up. His grandfather had always been in Beijing, so he couldn’t be familiar with Shen Xi’s paintings. Hence, it was very likely that Shen Xi had imitated the techniques or paintings of some famous artist. “What do you mean?”
Li Dan thought for a long time before his eyes suddenly lit up. He took out his phone, found a few paintings, and showed them to Li Jin. “This is it! These are some of the pictures that your Master Guan showed off about Young Master Guan’s paintings. Take a look for yourself. It’s the same theme, but this stroke and the hook line at the side, don’t they look very similar?”
Li Jin studied it carefully and it seemed to be true.
“This painting is the same as calligraphy. Don’t look at this simple tick. As long as you look at it carefully, you can identify whether the person himself drew it.” Li Dan compared the photo with Shen Xi’s painting and pointed out several similarities.
“So, grandfather, are you saying that Young Master Guan’s painting and Shen Xi’s painting were drawn by the same person?” Li Jin asked with a serious expression.
“That’s true according to my experience,” said Li Dan with a nod.
Li Jin’s heart was already boiling. So, to win the competition, Shen Xi might have gotten Guan Lei to draw for her.
At the same time, Li Jin’s heart ached. She never thought that Guan Lei would do something so unprincipled for Shen Xi. If Master Guan found out about Guan Lei’s fraud, he would probably give him a good scolding.